Because creativity can be simple, affordable, and it makes life more fun!

Monthly Archives: June 2016

This week, we focus on Father’s Day, Pride Month, a garden update, and, of course, the bears.

FATHER’S DAY

“Any man can be a father, but it takes a special man to be a dad.” – Anne Geddes*

We are both grateful and blessed to have had wonderful, dedicated fathers, to whom family meant everything. Applause to all great fathers and their lucky children.

Here is a simple idea for a great Father’s Day gift:

GIFT BOWL

A great way to present a gift is to use a bowl like a gift basket. In the example above, we placed three different bottles of hot sauce in a bowl with some colorful, shredded paper, and spelled out “Dad” on the bowl in stickers. Let the kids get creative with the stickers! To finish this and make it more transportable, wrap it in cellophane and tie with a ribbon. This doesn’t have to be expensive. We got this bowl and hot sauce trio at an outlet store for under $6.00! You also can add a gift card to a favorite restaurant, if desired. A Buffalo Wild Wings gift card would work well in our example. Customize your gift bowl for your special dad!

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person; he believed in me.” – Jim Valvano*

FATHER’S DAY JOKE:

What did daddy spider say to baby spider?You spend too much time on the web! Source: jokes4us.com

OUR DADS

Here is a picture of Kevin’s father, Warren, and his mom, Irene, at a family celebration . . .

. . . and here is a picture of Roy’s father, Bill, who enjoyed taking care of his home (perhaps not so much during snow storms).

PRIDE – LoveConquersHate

June is LGBT-pride month nationwide, and we were proud to celebrate our 18th year together on June 6th. As everyone probably knows, on Sunday morning, June 12th, a horrible tragedy occurred at The Pulse, a LGBT nightclub in Orlando, FL, when 49 people were killed in the worst mass murder shooting in our country’s history.

But love conquers hate, and we will be among the more than 40,000 participants this Saturday, June 18th, at Rhode Islands’ 41st annual Pride Fest, a day-long celebration in Providence ending with an amazing illuminated parade. Check out http://www.prideri.com for more details.

Rainbow FlagSign:

This rainbow sign was made from a piece of scrap wood. Measure out 6 even horizontal spaces (in this case, each stripe is 3/4 inch wide) and paint them with acrylic paint in the colors of the rainbow.

Here is the before picture:

and after:

GARDEN UPDATE

This year’s garden got off to a late start due to weather, but we now have most of our plants potted. (Clockwise from top left) Basil, peppers & tomatoes, zinnias, and variegated tiger lilies are some of this year’s offerings.

Ladder Plant Stand

This colorful plant stand was created out of 3 different-sized ladders and a few boards we had on hand. Standard rung heights for ladders simplified this project. Paint your ladders to match your garden’s color theme. We did rainbow colors this year. Choose plants that take full sun for top of ladders and partial sun or shade for the lower levels. Check out future blogs for the development of this work in progress.

The shelves were cut from scrap wood with a saber saw. Two inverted storage bins of the same size (shown below) made great saw horses. (Use care with power tools, or better yet, buy new lumber and have it cut to size at the store.)

The ladders and shelves were painted with leftover paint and some new indoor/outdoor spray paint. They were painted quickly and imperfectly to create a distressed look. Since we had the ladders and boards (sometimes it pays to run a storage facility!), this project cost under ten dollars. You can find used ladders at tag sales or flea markets for your project.

Gardening can be a wonderful way to focus on something positive. Last Sunday, when we were still absorbing the tragic news from Orlando, we decided to go out and pick up some plants to complete the garden. It helps to do something positive and life-affirming during difficult times.